Tthor looked askance at old Yalfom's house. The curtains were drawn, revealing that its inhabitants were already awake.

   "I don't know if it's a good idea to go talk to him," said Lee-Won, sitting next to Tthor, while he devoured his third portion of honey cake.

   "He has a bad reputation. He is grumpy and… old,” added Noel, who was located on the other side of Tthor and was enjoying his own slice of cake. “They tell horrible stories about him and his entire family; They say that his wife is evil and his children are despicable.

   Tthor sighed and slowly moved his head from side to side.

   "If we don't do something...with the dog, we won't have a garden. Furthermore, I think it is necessary that they know us. We are very close to his property. And I really want to have a garden. I'm already tired of living on bread and cheese," Tthor complained, looking with displeasure at the kilometers and kilometers of air potatoes plantations that practically surrounded him.

   Lee-Won put his empty plate aside, looked at Tthor determinedly, and declared:

   " I go with you!"

   " Lee-Won! Your mother needs you, urgently," Darius shouted, advancing towards them.

   "I'm going with you," Noel said, looking at Tthor with a smile.

   "Oh, Noel! Your uncle sent me to tell you that you have to take care of the shoe store all morning," Darius announced, a little closer.

   Tthor laughed amused.

   "Go!" Said Tthor. "Then we'll see what we do..."

   The two young men stood up and greeted him.

   Lee-Won looked at Tthor and asked, lowering his voice:

   "See you later?"

   Tthor answered him with a wide smile.

   "What are you thinking about, Tthor?" Darius asked him, standing next to him.

   The young boy stood up and looked ahead, where the orchard had once been and was now nothing more than a frozen, neglected plot, with dirt caked into mounds.

   " I do not know how to explain it. But I feel a strong need, inside here," said Tthor, rubbing his chest with his hand. "to make those seeds bear fruit."

   "Last night we had the first snow storm. I doubt those seeds will germinate in such cold weather," Darius said seriously.

   "They are seeds for the cold," Tthor commented, as if passing by.

   "How do you know?" the little man asked, looking at him curiously.

   " In the same way I know that that garden is important. Intuitively... I trust Murk. And if Murk gave me that book, with those seeds, it's because he wants me to plant them."

   Darius was thoughtful.

   "I have to go...," he said a few minutes later. "You stay a while, I'll take care of yours. Think about how you are going to solve this."

   "Thank you, Darius. I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

   Darius returned to the abbey at a brisk pace.

   Tthor breathed nervously as he approached what was left of the orchard. He turned his gaze to the little house that stood on the hill and began to walk back and forth, with his hands in his pockets.

   Hesitantly, he took a few steps towards the hill and then returned towards the orchard, feeling his hands sweating.

   "You face fenrir wolves, griffins, living statues... with swords!" Tthor said to himself. "And you can't face a simple person of flesh and blood...?"

   "Now he has taken to talking to himself...?"

   Tthor was startled. He hadn't realized that Lee-Won had approached him, at a stealthy pace and with a grimace on his lips.

   "What's wrong?" Lee-Won asked him.

   "It happens that... your best friend is a coward."

   Lee-Won became serious.

   "My best friend is not a coward!" He exclaimed. "It happens that he is starting to be cautious... and he no longer gets into as much trouble as before."

   Tthor stared at him. Lee-Won felt that, before that look that was the one he liked, his heart was beginning to accelerate. And, before losing control, he looked towards the orchard and said, trying to sound natural:

   " What are you up to?"

   "Why?" Tthor asked defensively, annoyed that his friend had not returned his gaze. "What will you tell me?" Yes, I know! Don't let me get into trouble anymore.

   " ...As far as possible... But if you do, count on me."

   Tthor smiled and stared at Lee-Won again, who this time did not avoid him.

   Calm down," said Tthor, looking at his friend without blinking. "I won't get into any trouble."

   Lee-Won bit his lip and, in a low voice, asked:

   "Do you remember that a few days ago, I had something to show you?"

   " Yes...," Tthor felt that adrenaline began to circulate throughout his body.

   Lee-Won reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment folded in four.

   Tthor questioned him with his gaze.

   "Do you remember Valentine's night?

   Tthor nodded curiously.

   " I found it in the staircase hallway, when the water was rising. I felt something brush against my leg. I guess the current carried him away from somewhere. I have let it dry."

   Tthor took it with both hands and carefully opened it. It was a sheet of glossy parchment, with golden sparkles and rounded edges. But it seemed to be blank, on one side and the other.

   "It doesn't have anything written," said Tthor, a little disappointed.

   " If you look closely," Lee-Won told him, pointing to the parchment. "There are a series of red dots scattered everywhere."

   Tthor looked from him to the paper and narrowed his eyes.

   "Yes,…I see them."

   "But that's not all, look at the edges. Do you see them?"

   "There are... symbols?!" Tthor said, with surprise.

   "Do you recognize them...?" Lee-Won asked, with a mysterious voice.

   Tthor looked at him with large, bright eyes.

   "This one is the same as your cameo!"

   " Your cameo!" Lee-Won corrected him. "I only have it on loan."

   "You want me to get angry with you, right?" Tthor threatened him, looking at him quite seriously.

   Lee-Won looked down, feeling himself turning red.

   "And the other…," continued Tthor. "It is a snake that devours its own tail."

   "The two symbols were on the baldanders' swords."

   " I know this symbol" said Tthor, frowning. "I have seen it before, but I don't remember where..."

   "I knew you would be interested," Lee-Won smiled. "Keep it!"

   Tthor stared at him for a few seconds.

   "I have to go," he announced suddenly, breaking off with that look again. "I have to help my mother."

   "See you later," Tthor told him, again getting a little upset. "I'll stay here for a while longer."

   Lee-Won looked at him out of the corner of his eye and bit his lip nervously. He walked away from Tthor, feeling that his heart, again, seemed to want to jump out of his chest.

   "Lee- Won..., calm down!" He said to himself in a low voice, as a challenge. "As long as you don't let yourself be enchanted by that look of his, you will be safe."

   "Talking to yourself?" Darius told him, as he watched him arrive.

  Tthor put the scroll in his pocket and turned his gaze to the house on the hill. And, without paying attention to the trembling of her legs or the strong beating of his heart, he determinedly set out on his way there.

   By the time he reached the entrance, his mouth was completely dry and his hands were sweating. But before he gathered enough courage to knock on the door, it opened suddenly.

   "That?!"

   A tall, extremely thin man with a thick beard and deep green eyes appeared on the lintel, looking at Tthor coldly.

   "Well...good morning," said the boy, unable to avoid stuttering.

   The man stared at him, seeking to intimidate him.

   But Tthor looked at those large eyes, with thick eyelashes and a green color streaked with gray, and felt a rather curious sensation. That look seemed strangely familiar to him.

   "What?!" The stranger said again.

   But before Tthor could respond, a small and very thin figure, despite her prominent pregnant belly, appeared behind the man, smiling widely. He had his hair tied in a long ponytail and many freckles on his rosy face.

   "Who are you?" asked the young woman, with a very soft voice.

   "My...name is Tthor Prayer," the boy answered, trying not to stutter. "I came...to talk to you about an...important topic."

   The man raised his eyebrows and looked at him with quite a bit of disdain but the woman seemed happy to have an unexpected visitor and, without losing her smile, she said:

   "Come in, dear, come in. You arrive just for tea."

   Tthor entered the house, much calmer than he had arrived. Following the woman's instructions, they passed through a small room and arrived at the kitchen.

   The whole atmosphere looked comfortable, although very humble.

   Old Yalfom, who now did not seem so old to Tthor, sat down at a rectangular wooden table and, with a rather crude gesture, invited Tthor to do the same.

   "My name is Mrs. Yalfom. And he is my husband," the woman said, filling the tea cups on the table.

   It was true that Tthor had arrived just for tea time, since everything was ready.

   The table had four cups, with their saucers and spoons, a couple of trays with pieces of what looked like a cake, a container with lumps of black sugar, and a bronze milk jug filled to the brim. The woman brought a fifth cup and began to fill it.

   "Ah," she said smiling, "these are our children: Arcod and little Lily."

   Arcod was quite robust, despite his visible young age. He didn't look more than twelve years old. He had a serious expression on his face and looked at Tthor with the same disdain that old Yalfom looked at him with.

   Lily, on the other hand, was the sweetest girl Tthor had ever seen. She estimated her age at about ten or eleven years old. She had matted hair, a beautiful cinnamon color, and big green eyes that seemed to scrutinize him brazenly.

   "Hello!" She greeted him with a sweet and melodious voice.

   Tthor smiled at him, as he realized that the girl was wearing her dress backwards. Inevitably, the image of Wilgenyna came to his mind and a radiant and loving countenance was revealed on her face.

   The girl seemed to sense something because she ran to Thor and gave him an impetuous hug, as if she were an old friend whom she had not seen for a long time.

   "Lily!" Her mother exclaimed, smiling. "I'm sorry, Tthor, she doesn't usually do those things."

   Tthor hugged her instinctively.

   "Alright. Don't worry. I have a cousin about her age. It reminds me a lot of her."

   The girl let go of Tthor and sat in a chair, next to her, with a bright smile on her lips.

   Arcod sat in a chair, next to her father, and looked askance at Tthor, while he poured a couple of sugar cubes into his tea.

   "And... what is that important topic that you say you are coming to discuss?" Said old Yalfom, with a sarcastic tone.

   Tthor was still enthralled with Lily and had to make an effort to remember why she was there. He cleared his throat, put the cup on the table and said:

   "As you know, my friends and I are preparing a garden on the side of the river, near the pond."

   "Is that… mound of pasty earth… an orchard?" Arcod asked, looking out the window towards the valley.

   "Well, it was... and we want it to be again. We have had some problems."

   "Byddo!!!" The girl shouted, seeing the dog enter, dripping mud and water everywhere.

   "Yes, he is one of them...," Tthor said quietly, losing himself in the girl's gaze again.

   Lily was grinning at him. Old Yalfom cleared his throat.

   "As he told you...," Tthor made another effort to resume the thread of the conversation. "I just wanted to know if there is no problem with us using that plot of land for our garden."

   "That part of the valley is not ours," Mrs. Yalfom hurried to say, seeing a refusal coming from her husband and her son, who kept looking at Tthor with a frown.

   "How good!" Lily shouted, giving a piece of cake to Tthor.

   "How good!" Tthor repeated, smiling, accepting the cake.

   But, fully aware that Mr. Yalfom was not very convinced, Tthor looked him in the eyes and said:

   " In gratitude for your spirit of good neighbors, I promise to share with you part of the harvest... of everything our garden produces."

   Yalfom looked out the window at the muddy plot. He made a face of disbelief at his son, who looked at him askance and said:

   " As you say…"

   He got up from the table, patted his son's shoulder and she followed him.

   They disappeared through a back door, followed by Byddo.

   "Yes!" Little Lily shouted, raising her arms.

   Tthor looked at her and smiled.

   "Thank you, Mrs. Yalfom. "The tea was delicious," said Tthor, getting up from the table, even though his cup was half full.

   "You're welcome, Tthor. Come back when you want."

   "I will," said the boy, looking enchanted at Lily.

   "When?" the girl asked him, taking him by the hand.

   "Soon," Tthor answered, walking towards the door.

   He crouched down near her little girl and said:

   "I'll come soon and we'll play together. Seem to you?"

   "Yes!" The girl celebrated, giving him another hug.

   Tthor descended the small hill with a feeling of happiness in his soul that was reflected in his youthful face. And, since he couldn't get Wilgenyna out of his head all morning, he interrupted his work after lunch to write a letter to his cousin.

   After filling out three full pages, he put them in a golden envelope and looked at it, sighing.

   Suddenly, he became alert. He turned around, slowly, and smiled as he saw Lee-Won's warm eyes looking at him from the hallway.

   "We have the whole afternoon free!" Said Lee-Won, laughing. "They gave it to me as a birthday gift. Let's go…?"